Infrared (IR) thermal cameras can be used in a number of different situations, for example, when inspecting or surveying complex electrical systems such as transformers, switchgears etc., or water carrying systems such as heat exchangers, radiators etc. IR cameras are used for capturing, displaying and storing thermal images. The thermal images may then be viewed and analyzed in order to, for example, find faulty electrical wirings or couplings, leaking water pipes, etc.
When viewing a thermal image captured by an IR camera in an IR camera display, there are a number of different parameters that determines how the thermal image is presented to the user of the IR camera. For example, these parameters may include colour scale values, isotherm levels/span, fusion thresholds/span for mixing thermal and conventional images, etc. Exactly how these parameters affect the actual displayed thermal image is subject to implementation specific solutions.
It is a common fact that users of IR cameras often experience problems with interpreting the content of displayed thermal images. Many parameters are also intuitively mistaken by the user to mean something else than what they actually represent. One reason for this is that the complex content of thermal images that lies behind the actual displayed thermal image are often hidden. This leaves several possible and arbitrary interpretations to be made from the displayed thermal images. Thus, there is a need for providing a user of an IR camera with an improved parameter interpretation and image control of the thermal images.